As well as the activities of an increasingly well organised and ruthless Albanian mafia in Europe and elsewhere, there is continuing corruption in the country, some of it at a very high level.

Education

Yet there is another side to all this. Albanians are very resourceful and many are highly skilled.

Some, after years overseas, are returning to try and rebuild their country. One thing not lacking under the old Hoxha regime was education, particularly in technical subjects.

My translator, she speaks four languages, is one of the hundreds of trained agronomists from the old times, once involved in a thriving market garden industry.

In the mid-1980s there were only about 3,000 cars in the whole country, and those who wanted to drive had to study for two years, full-time.

They had to learn how to take an engine apart and put it together again. Hence, Albanians have great mechanical skills, and to visitors they are extraordinarily hospitable.

Cha, cha, - cha, cha, cha. One more time round the dance floor.

In the old days, long before Enver Hoxha, in the time of King Zog, Albania's last monarch, Tirana was famous for its glamorous parties, a place where Europe's glitterati would gather to dance the night away.

Now the old dances are coming back.

"Slowly," says Monika, "Albania is recovering, and getting back its soul."